Meanings
porteous1
plural porteouses · alternative portesse · alternative porthors · alternative porthos · alternative portous
- historicalA portable breviary.
And in his hand his Portesse still he bare, / That much was worne, but therein little red, / For of deuotion he had little care [...].
1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto IV”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLCSynonyms: portuary
Porteous2
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA portable breviary.
Origin
porteous · noun
- Old Frenchportehors
- Anglo-Normanporteose
- Englishporteous
From Anglo-Norman porteose, portehos, Old French portehors, from porte + hors (“outside”).
More words from Anglo-Norman, Old French
Full word history & related roots →Porteous · proper noun
- Anglo-Normanporteose“porteous”
- Middle Englishport“gateway, entrance”
- EnglishPorteous
Two possible origins: * A topographic surname for someone who lived in the lodge at the entrance to a manor house, from Middle English port (“gateway, entrance”) + hous (“house”). * From Anglo-Norman porteose (“porteous”), a metonymic occupational surname for a scribe employed in writing portable prayerbooks.
More words from Middle English, Anglo-Norman
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
porteous. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/porteous
“porteous.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/porteous. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “porteous,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/porteous.
Source: porteous on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.